Music Based Horror Book Published

"Sing a Song of Dread" Available in Paperback and Hardcover

October 6th, 2023 Poplar Grove, Illinois  – "Sing a Song of Dread: The Place Where Music and Horror Meet" is a new collection of stories from Northern Illinois publisher Tales of Wonder and Dread. With a cover by Square Frog Art, the book, as the subtitle suggests, features spooky stories that center in some way around music. While most of the stories are contemporary, there are two vintage tales in the collection.

Gary Hill's story "The Debut Tour" starts things. It was written to stand as a modern Lovecraftian narrative and does a pretty good job of creating something that has that kind of mode and vibe. It's the story of a reporter on tour with a band when strange things start happening.

Next comes "B3/+ z ||| +h3 //|+cH H/Us (Beats in the Witch Haus)" by R. C. Mulhare. In her tale two people are happy to get access to a famous spooky house to record a new album. Things begin to happen that make them wonder if it was the stroke of luck they envisioned it as or not.

Elizabeth Gaskill's classic "Old Nurse's Story" from 1852 is next. It's often cited as a spooky Christmas tale because it is set in the winter. It's a creepy ghost story, designed to create chills no matter the season.

Things turn more light-hearted with Gary Hill's "I Saved the Beatles." A first-person tale told by a vampire, it is what Hill calls a "feel good" vampire story. It recounts something that happened during The Beatles' first visit to the United States. Well, it didn't really happen - or did it? As the narrator says, no one outside of a few characters in the story would ever know it occurred.

Next is an H. P. Lovecraft story from 1921. In "The Music of Erich Zann" the narrator relates a strange tale of an odd house on a street that doesn't exist in France. Strange music is a means of protecting mankind in this cosmic horror story.

R. C. Mulhare is back with "Blood on the Stage." Her tale is a reimagining of Poe's "Masque of the Red Death." A Cajun musician is on a cruise ship that is taking its wealthy passengers on an excursion to divert their minds from a pandemic that is gripping the planet.

"Isabelle's Song" by Del Merritt comes next. Strange things begin to transpire when a young girl finds an old piece of sheet music and plays it. It's a ghost story with a very classic vibe.

Gary Hill's " On The Road With..." is the parting shot in the book. Similar to the tale that opened the tome, a reporter is on tour with a rock band. The threat is a different one than was presented in that story, though.

Poplar Grove based Tales of Wonder and Dread Publishing was founded in 2018. The name refers to science fiction ("wonder"" and horror ("dread"). Before this new book, TOWAD had released nearly three-dozen books. That number includes the first two novels in a trilogy from Elizabeth Lynn Blackson. Those books, "A Girl's Gotta Eat" and "Old Black Water" blend genres like urban fantasy, horror, action adventure and more.

A series on Rockford Illinois cemeteries has also been published by TOWAD. In addition, the publisher has collections of Rockford and Chicago area spooky stories (both fiction and non-fiction). Those books are "Spooky Rockford" and "Spooky Rockford Two," "Spooky Stateline," "Spooky Stateline" and "Spooky Berwyn," "Spooky Berwyn Two." and "Spooky Berwyn Three."

The book is available in paperback and hardcover at lulu.com/spotlight/strangesound and GaryHillAuthor.com and TalesofWonderandDread.com.  

#####

Contact: TalesofWonderandDread@SpookyVentures.com

garyhillauthor.com/Tales-of-Wonder-and-Dread